How do you choose your web designer?
There many ways of how you can find a web designer: a referall, a job site, a freelance site, by searching or surfing. But what to you value the most in the designer that you decide to choose one over another?
Of course, there may be numerous factors:
- experience
- skill level
- also takes web standards, usability and accessibility into account
- a level of trust
- communcation level (good language command, if it is his second language)
- enthusiasm
- location
- cost
Which one do you think is the most important?
I personally think that one of the importance ones are skill level and trust. If you can’t trust a web designer, how can you think you will work with him/her? On the other hand, if the designer doesn’t know how to do what you want, you can’t continue working together either.
Another thing that may influence your choise is the designer’s location. But what location influences is how well you can communicate and cooperate with your designer. If you can do it well via the Internet, there is not much reasons to stick to a local designer.
Though, of course, trust can be achieved not only from prompting great referrals by providing excellent services, but also by marketing oneself well. Solid presentation, good proposition, reasonable price can all inspire trust to the designer. But the most efficient way of building trust is meeting presonally. This is where you can learn all you need from a designer and decide whether you trust him or her or not.
This point of view is largely supported by how the folks at 37signals have chosen a web designer.
If you largely are concerned with cost, don’t worry, you’ll get what you pay for.
If you want a great looking website for $100, you’ll get right what you pay for. Because a human can not force himself into spending a great deal more time on something that doesn’t pay well. It is against any good laws of handling business, too.
One thing you may want to do is to get more proof the designer you want to work with is worth it. You can contact the site owners from the designer’s portfolio, ask your IT man(or woman) to take a look at the clients’ site or evaluate the site of the designer himself, if there are no significant testimonials. You have to be 100% sure you are starting to work with the right man, because you may end up with a long-lasting business relationship and you’d rather do that with a professional that loves his work, too.
So what is the most important factor for you when you pick a designer?
Related posts: